Local teens try out for MTV's "Made"
About 30 teens, with these aspirations and others, showed up in Ypsilanti High School’s auditorium on Tuesday afternoon to apply for a spot on the MTV show “Made.”
The show helps teens pursue their dreams for a month, and as they work toward their goal, their daily lives are filmed. (Huron High School student Dylan Wood was featured on the show in 2006, which followed the pursuit of his goal to become a fashion designer.)
“(Being filmed is) one of the things I’ve thought about,” said YHS junior and aspiring baseball player Jordyn Uranga. “But if it will help me succeed, and give me the chance to fulfill that dream, than it’s worth it to me.”
YHS junior Kelcie White, the drag racing hopeful, agreed. “Being followed, and having everybody see who you truly are, and then having that be broadcast on television is a strange thing to think about,” said YHS junior Kelcie White, 17. “But I think it’s totally worth it.”
White and her friends visit Milan Dragway every Friday to watch drag races; but what is it about the sport that appeals to her?
“Just the quickness, and all of the cars and how they’re made,” said White. “Everything about it is so fast-paced and spontaneous. … And there’s only one girl racer, so I would love to be another girl drag racer.”
Several other students, meanwhile, wanted to use “Made” as an opportunity to try different styles of dancing. YHS junior Nadine Tillawi wants to learn tap.
“It’s different,” said Tillawi. “I don’t know anybody that does tap dancing. Everyone here is just about cheerleading, basketball, or football, to sum it all up. So I just want to do something that would make me stand out, and make me look like I can do something other than follow everyone else and what they do.”
16 year old YHS junior Kearra Harris, meanwhile, has some dance training, but none in ballet. “(Ballet dancers) just look so pretty and flowing,” said Harris. “They’re so graceful. When I was a kid, I always wanted to do it but we never had the money for it.”
This was a sentiment heard often on Tuesday. YHS junior Kyra Wilson, for example, wants to learn the style of dance used in music videos, and she saw YHS’s “Made” auditions as a chance to make this happen.
“I was like, maybe I could finally have somebody to teach me the things I want to learn,” said Wilson. “I hope I make it.”
Like Dylan Wood, Ann Arbor’s previous “Made” contestant, sisters Brandi Johnson and Savanna Garrett have fashion design dreams, but they hope to pursue them as a team. The two applied separately, just in case, but ultimately, “we want to put our different ideas together,” said Johnson, a YHS junior.
“Made” has never featured a duo, but YHS senior Garrett thinks that might be a selling point for her and Johnson. “Maybe we could bring something new,” she said.
Something that would likely be very new to the show would be training a fire performer, which is the dream of recent California import and YHS freshman Jonathan Tackitt. Holding up a long string of small, metallic balls that hung from his belt loops, he said, “These chains have handles, and one has a weight at the end, and it lights on fire, and you spin it around and do tricks.”
Tackitt was prepared to demonstrate for the MTV representative — without actually lighting any fires, of course.
Many auditioners voiced surprise that the auditorium wasn’t more packed with applicants, who were being accepted one at a time for interviews in YHS’s choir room.
“I guess it takes a lot of guts to want to come here and try out to be on TV,” said White, who brought her younger sister along for company and moral support. “I mean, I was nervous all day. … I love ‘Made.’ I just could not believe that ‘Made’ was actually coming to Ypsi High.”
Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.
Music video-style recap of 2006 episode of “Made” featuring local teen Dylan Wood: